Wine with Meg + Mel
The fun + frank podcast which helps you navigate the world of wine. Hosted by Australia's first female Master of Wine Meg Brodtmann, and self-titled Master of Sabrage Mel Gilcrist.
Wine with Meg + Mel
Finally, Wines of Etna (YAAAASSS!)
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FINALLY, ETNA!
- 2021 Carranco Etna Bianco Villa dei Baroni $60
- 2020 Etna Bianco Contrada Carranco $100
- 2018 Carranco Etna Rosso Villa dei Baroni $60
- 2019 Etna Rosso Contrada Carranco $140
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Exploring Wine Trends and Climate Impacts
Speaker 1Hi and welcome to One , with Megan Mowley here to help you navigate the world of one . I'm Mel Gilchrist , I've thrown myself introducing myself and we're here to talk about navigate the world of one . And you are Meg Procton , and you're a master of one . There we go , we got there . Do you know what ? I'm just too excited because we are doing it today Finally . Oh my god , it's just like .
Speaker 2It's just so cool . It is cool , so we are doing it now today . Mel's been looking forward to this for , oh , I reckon , a year . We've been talking about it and we haven't actually got round to doing it , so here we are doing it now .
Speaker 1Now . We kind of said it in the last episode , I will say it again the thing is and it's been really cool in wine for a couple of years . It's been this kind of I don't know , like black , the cool region that everyone is obsessing over .
Speaker 2And why is that ?
Speaker 1Well , white Lotus came after that , so it was big in wine , yes , but then White Lotus went to what is the city ?
Speaker 2They were in Sicily .
Speaker 1Sicily .
Speaker 2So they went to Sicily for White Lotus and they went to the wine re-interrupt about the Etna wine .
Speaker 1Yes , so now all of a sudden , consumers are interested . It just exploded In Etna wine as well , which is kind of like good because we like to share , but then also it's so bad because prices went up and then they had an outbreak because of the terrible weather last year and so their production is really , really low .
Speaker 2They've lost a lot of crop . So it's a region . If you see it anywhere between $60 and $100 , buy it now , because I imagine it's going to just go through the roof , and we had an Etna Bianco after we had Andrew Shedden on our episode .
Speaker 1Yeah , we had him on our episode . I bought it for .
Speaker 2Christmas and my brother-in-law's mum , basically , I think , went and wiped her dance store out of the entire and it's now become her drink du jour . She doesn't drink a lot , but when she opens it . I was like that's not that cheap , you know it's not cheap Must be nice . But because she doesn't drink a lot and she's she's quite wealthy , she can afford to do it .
Speaker 1Well , oh , look , it's good stuff , so I'm keen to get into it and I hope everyone's going to enjoy listening about it and go buy it themselves , because it rocks . But first , meg , what have you been drinking ?
Speaker 2What have I been drinking . I've actually taken photographs . I remember the name Domaine La Lourie , rivage Blanc , igp , cote du Nabeau Jesus , so Cote du Nabeau , all the Domaine La Lourie . It's from the Prince Wine Store . Uh-huh , I Amulet of pizza . It's kind of a blend of Grenache Blanc and Chardonnay and a whole mix of things , igp . So it's a cheaper wine . So it's a , you know , vendapay style of wine , nubbins down in the south of France in the Longerrock region , and it was just super refreshing . We haven't had a really hot summer but we had a run of a few days and I had been drinking sort of light red , so sort of San Givais-ish styles of wines , and I was sitting outside just thinking I need something super fresh . So I plunged it in the freezer , which I know you're not supposed to do . Is that little snorts from ?
Speaker 1Billy .
Speaker 2She's snorting , so plunging the freezer . Absolutely delicious Prince wine store can't remember , but I'm going to say , oh , hang on 25 bucks .
Speaker 1Nice Wait and it was good . It was really good .
Speaker 2We love that Just super fresh and a little bit of oily texture . I love oily texture . A wine that I hate to say this you could almost prop an ice cube in it . You did not , I did I didn't because I threw it in the freezer to get it cold , but just drinking that . We discussed this , I think , last year . These IGPs , these cheaper regions , these sort of weird-ass blends I don't mention what they are they throw anything in , anything that's grown in the region . Yep , I just think they're interesting . And that's another thing that I wonder if our warmer regions could do something like that . So don't name a variety . Yep , like , let's throw some saam shard musket .
Speaker 1I love it , but you're going to have a hard time convincing the Australian consumer . Riverland , white . Yeah , you're going to have a hard time . I would not pick up Riverland white . It's like I knew what was it . Would you pick up a ?
Speaker 2Rivage Blanc , igp , coated in number , and you'd be going . Well , there's too many words that I can't pronounce . This is true . So yeah , riverland Blanc , blind way to go . Mate , she LAUGHS . Jesus , I'm a marketing genius , she LAUGHS . Anyway , that's what I've been drinking . It was very , very lovely .
Speaker 1And fun fact , my fun fact .
Speaker 2Um , oh , again , I'm not sure . There was a study done by the Chinese , some Chinese Bureau of Meteorology talking about you know , we've had La Nina . So this is a Southern Pacific Ocean Oscillation weather pattern . Yeah , so it affects us in the Southern Pacific and we were expecting El Nino's hot and dry , la Nina's wet and cool , yes , in our summers . Um , and it's all based on the surface temperature of the ocean , depending on how how dry El Nino will be , and they think that this next El Nino , which is coming on in , is going to be the driest and hottest OKwhen they've seen .
Speaker 1But I mean they did say that about this summer as well .
Speaker 2I know La Nina has dragged her tail , but and my husband says every year oh , it's going to be the hottest body year on record and we're going to have fires and but just the reason I mentioned this there was then a follow-on in this article about how that's going to impact grape growing .
Speaker 2We're lucky we've got dams full of water , yeah , so we've got some water for spades , yeah . And I mean , you know , with the whole El Nino , La Nina phenomenon , where they said El Nino was coming , farmers de-stock their farms because they thought they'd be in a , you know , for cattle and then they're scrambling to buy cattle . Don't listen to the weather . We know in Melbourne we never listen to the Bureau of Meteorology . It's just like , yeah , whatever , it's just a kind of rule of thumb , it's not an absolute .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2Anyway , so that's my fun fact .
Speaker 1Love it
Exploring Etna Wines and Vineyards
Speaker 1. Let's get into Etna .
Speaker 2OK , so Etna , it is a specific DOC . It's a facility within Sicily , the island off volcanic soils , yeson , the side of Mount Etna .
Speaker 1So it's like an actual volcano right . It's an active volcano , it's active .
Speaker 2It's an active volcano .
Speaker 1What does that mean ? Like it's not actually going to explode ?
Speaker 2is it Possibly ? What ? Yes , possibly . So they live in fear every day , oh goody . Well , that's why they say the Sicilians live such great lives because they just never know where it's going to end .
Speaker 2They just , you know , live each day as if it's your last . That's really poetic . I love it . So there's two wines yes , there's a white , there's Etna Bianco and there's Etna Rosso . So , very , very simple , the white is made from caracanti grapes , 100% , indigenous grape variety to Sicily . The red is made from nereolome mescalese , uh-huh , 100% . They can add another grape variety in . Oh God , I can't remember the name . It's a really bizarre name . It starts with C . I'll remember it as we go along .
Speaker 1OK , but both of the wines that I've got here are nereolome mescalese , 100% wines and I don't think you have to be fluent in Italian to join the dots that Etna Bianco is white and Etna Rosso is red .
Speaker 2Oh , sorry . Yes , so we have the same producer , caranco , two wines the Etna Bianco , villa de Boroni , which is $60 from Dan Murphy's 2021 , versus the same producer Caranco . Etna Bianco Contrara Caranco . So this is a smaller plot . It's like a named single vignette . Yes , equivalent , this is $99 , $99 , $100 . So we're not Okay .
Speaker 1So sorry , the first one is more regional and then the second one is single vineyard . Yes , got you Okay .
Speaker 2And then we repeat that for our reds . So we have . I've clotted Kurenku etna karankai with my best Australian accent Etna karankai . With etna rosso , villa de Baroni 2018 . That's $60 versus the Contrada Karanko single vineyard with a smaller plot at $139.99 .
Speaker 1And it's all the same . Great variety Vineyard . That's not vineyard . A winery producer , same producer , yeah .
Speaker 2I'm really keen to see what the difference is . Yes , so I mean you're literally doubling the price , pretty much , of their entry level at $60 .
Speaker 2Entry level at $60 must be enough . So karakanti , on the whites for me , is a very floral mineral . They say that you can almost taste the volcanic ash in the wine , as we know that minerality is not absorbed into vines . But anyway , there's a lot of romance . They say that because when it does rain , some of that ash gets onto the leaves , some of that minerality goes through into the leaves and is trans-cadded . Is that real ? No , there's a whole heap of romance about it , but these are very distinctly volcanic .
Speaker 1Because you can't get flavour through the leaves right Like through the outside of the leaves .
Speaker 2And we know that the thing that causes minerality is not trans-cadded and it's not absorbed through the roots ? Yeah , but it is a high acid for a hot region no water , low-vigor vine . So it retains its acidity . It retains its freshness . It's got this sort of mineral , honey-suckle character to it . I love it . Great food wine , these are not cheap . The reason they're not cheap is because the production is so low . That's little Billy . What do you think ? Miss Billy , I think she's into it .
Speaker 1So what do you expect before we even go into it ? What should we expect from an etna ?
Speaker 2No oak , beautiful acidity that makes my mouth water . Mm-hmm , wet stone . A honey-suckle , lemon pith . It sounds all very sort of neutral grapefruits , but it has this , I don't know . It is distinctly etna . Yeah , I think it's the minerality , the pithiness . I get sometimes a slight Like almond . Have you ever smelled almond essence that you put ? Geez , yeah , I know You've structured me . Mazzaphan , mazzaphan . Everyone hates mazzaphan , so I hate using that word . No one likes mazzaphan because that mazzaphan icing that's on cakes , but it does have this almond-y-ness about it .
Speaker 1There's yeah , it's a long-legged almond lime I get it's like a clay . It's a stupid descriptor , but it's almost like what I imagined a clay would taste like if you ate it . Yeah , and a really different kind of citrus . Like it's not I wouldn't call it lemon or lime Mandarin , even though I don't know . No , it's probably something exotic from Thailand that I've never tasted , maybe like an oozu or something , but it's a really interesting citrus .
Speaker 2I'm sorry , I'm just district . What little bugsy she's so beautiful .
Speaker 1She's making lots of doses .
Speaker 2Anyway , the wine's amazing $60, . I know it's a lot of money . People , they're all undercooked . It is a lot of money , but it's a surprise . Win friends and influence people . One .
Speaker 1You're right . I would say this is a take it out of the fridge 20 minutes before you want to drink it . One Like I think it's a little too cold .
Speaker 2OK , so this was in our beer fridge , which is set at Super Cold in summer . But that has I left home it . I put these out at 730 . It's now 9.55 . So it's had . Were they in my fridge ? No , that's the beer fridge . Is that cold ? It is super cold . It's crazy cold .
Speaker 1Even just in the glass . It's every time I have a sip . It's coming to life a little bit more .
Speaker 2Yeah , it's my only complaint . Oh , bottle is ridiculously heavy .
Speaker 1Come on , it's $60 bottle .
Speaker 2You're still not yeah if climate change happens , you guys are fucked . Let's do something about climate change by you know , reducing our bottle weight .
Speaker 1Yeah , this is true . This is true , you're the first ones to go at now .
Speaker 2As my mum used to say , God helps those that help themselves . Yeah , not that she was ever , not that she is ever a religious woman . But the bottle weight , but look that's , there are new kids on the block . They don't have . You know , there's not huge production , but I'm really keen to see what the difference is with when we're doubling the price of the wine .
Speaker 1Yeah , my God , that is just so delicious , oh yum .
Speaker 2Shame . I have things to do this afternoon . I would just happily sit here and look . I can't see how much I've poured . Is that enough ? Yep , oh
Comparing and Analyzing Different Wines
Speaker 2, ok . So the first thing I noticed Money . The first one was a twenty twenty one . The second one is a twenty twenty . So we've got some bottle age . Maybe they release it with some bottle age on it . Yeah , that could be part of the who knows ?
Speaker 1though we've said we just don't know it's getting sent to , especially if it's exported , and and it's that price it might not be popular in Dands . It might have been on the shelf , we don't know . Oh , ok , so it's way more savoury almondy , I'm actually not getting much comparatively like oh it's , it's . You have to search a bit more . On the nose . It's not as lifted Mandarin yeah .
Speaker 2Hmm , okay , I had to say this . That is slightly oxidised . Maybe we have a bad bottle . Should I take it back and get another one ? Yeah , I don't know , I just wouldn't . It seems really developed . Well , it's a three and a half year old . What's three years really ? Three year old wine ? It just seems super developed for that style of wine . The other , villa de Baroni , was much fresher and much more delicious , I thought , and much more what I expect from Etna Bianco . Maybe this vineyard has more exposure , lower yields , but it does feel slightly oxidised . There's a new Gary character showing development in the wine that I wouldn't expect . That said , haven't really done many vertical wine taste .
Speaker 1Etna Bianco . Etna Bianco .
Speaker 2Well , I can't say , oh , it's a little bit reminiscent of the 95 .
Speaker 1Don't know it is new , gary , actually , but how do you know that that's not just intentional ?
Speaker 2I don't . Yes , you don't know , I don't .
Speaker 1It is faint enough that I was thinking it could be intentional .
Speaker 2I'm wondering if this has gone into old barrels . Maybe here we go .
Speaker 1You know what ? I quite like it too , the texture . I reckon it has been in old barrels . I think you're right , because that's got a more interesting texture . It has that oiliness that we've talked about .
Speaker 2So , yeah , this is $100 . It was produced from local variety Carycutta , the vine age being from 50 to 60 years Jesus . The resultant wine boasts complex aromas of citrus , green apple and peach , while the pallet has a sustained intensity and attack aided by the crunchy , minerality and powerful fruit flavours .
Speaker 1Okay , when was Phylloxera through Italy ?
Speaker 21870s , 1880s . Right , okay , like the rest of Europe .
Speaker 1Has Cicely had Phylloxera ? I don't know . I was just thinking that . Can I get all the way to a full cutting garden ?
Speaker 2Phylloxera doesn't like sandy soil , so you can grow your own root vines . Again , we digress .
Speaker 1Let me know . I was just wondering about the age of the Vineyards 50 to 60 is nothing , that's my age so old .
Speaker 2I think you're coming . That is too cold and it needs possibly to open up . It's one of those wines that's a little bit closed .
Speaker 1It's interesting the more I drink it , the more I like it , and the more it warms up , the more it opens up and I'm actually really warming to it .
Speaker 2I think I just prefer the freshness of the first one .
Speaker 1Okay , this sounds weird , but there's like something cheesy on the nose which I'm kind of enjoying . It's like a dairy .
Speaker 2You know what it smells like , why . You know there's cheese sticks .
Speaker 1Yeah , it's a tout that tastes like cheese sticks and you can feel it .
Speaker 2It's cheesy , but it's not even quality cheese and I don't even know if that is cheese .
Speaker 1I wonder what it is . Looks like plastic . Yeah , you know what I like that that's . That's quite yummy . Okay , good .
Speaker 2I'm . She's breathing really loud . We're doing a podcast , baby Doesn't matter , she can stay in there as much as you like , she's so beautiful . Okay , we better move on to the other one because she has got to get her vaccines done today . She does Bottom line different . Yeah , one has more development . One has more savoury . Yeah , cheesy , leasy character May have been aged on Lees from an older vineyard . One is super fresh , classic etna bianco . One is she shows more development , more nougat , and they are two very , very different wines . So comparing them which is better is different , because it's hard , because they are so Completely down to personal choice .
Speaker 2They're completely different styles , yeah so let's see if we can do it in the red again . Very heavy bottles , okay . Villa de Baroni , villa d'Aier Baroni 2018 . Etna rosso 100% nerello mescalese Nerello mescalese 60 bucks . It looks like Barolo .
Speaker 1It looks exactly like Barolo . I love that , like russety garden colour . Yeah , that real tawny . It's like almost got that orange tinge to it . It's such a great colour . It does . It looks like a Barolo . That is beautiful .
Speaker 2Oh my god it smells so good . I mean there is . This is not a fruity wine , this is . There's smokiness as charcoal . I'm going to sound like such a work worker here . I almost can smell volcanic ash like I imagine walking up the side of the thing and the ash coming up like cinders . Yeah , but without that acridness .
Speaker 1You are a wanker , but it's so true . I always get like a um A bit of sour cherry . I always get like a roasted tomato type smelling wines like this .
Speaker 2Well , sundried tomatoes are coming back .
Speaker 1Coming back . Where were they ?
Speaker 2They were in the 90s styling . They were stuck in the 90s . I didn't know . We ever lost them , but you know they're coming back . Um they're putting them in the pairing method this year .
Speaker 1Oh , really .
Speaker 2Oh , I have to come with you Switching it up this year , making some changes .
Speaker 1This is like rust . The word rustic comes to mind .
Speaker 2Oh see , I have negative connotations to that word .
Speaker 1Do you how come ?
Speaker 2I don't know . It's when people talk about rustic wines , I imagine out of balanced tannins , and um , a savouriness for me is probably the word that I would prefer to use to describe it , rather than rustic .
Speaker 1I think that's really interesting . Rustic wines for me are like this , but that savouriness is very true .
Speaker 2Well , there's lots of black cherry cherry lolly . I like that . It needs food Spice , baking spice .
Speaker 1Tannins are nibbiollo-esque . Yes , they're completely nibbiollo-esque .
Speaker 2I don't know how .
Speaker 1But and then ? So when would you buy this over in nibbiollo ? Then Like , would you just buy nibbiollo 60 bucks yeah .
Speaker 2Yeah , true , it's not as good as a Barolo , but Barolo is going to cost me more than $100 . I would drink a nibbiollo delange which sits around this price point 45 to 60 . Possibly over . I just think again . Food , you know I love food . This just needs something . This is kind of a crowd pleaser because there's nothing and this might sound like an insult . There's nothing overt about it . It's a very subtle , lovely , savoury red wine with great tannin structure . That just needs something .
Speaker 1It's good , it is so beautiful and it's 28 in , so it's got a bit of age on it . Ultimate savoury wine Yum , hmm .
Speaker 2Nice .
Speaker 1That's like a don't want to spit it out , one yeah just swallowed that . Yeah , it's 10am .
Speaker 2It's alright , I'm a wine professional .
Speaker 1We can because we're wine professionals .
Speaker 2No , but I , you know , we have been spitting as we know . That's how we knew that Mel was pregnant . When his spittoon was absolutely full and Pete called it , not me he went what the hell's going on with Mel's spittoon ? I'm like oh I don't know . She's pregnant . I'm like , and then a week later Mel comes up and goes I'm pregnant .
Speaker 1Yeah , I told you quite early on because I was so sick and Tom had to drive me to your house to do the podcast , right ?
Speaker 2But beer Pete had pulled it , he'd already called it , called it . He has had experience with a pregnant woman before . Yes A crazy pregnant woman too . Anyway , now we're moving to the same as the white wine . So it's Conranco , etno Riosso , doc , contrata , contrata , conranco , which is this smaller plot of vineyards from 50 to 60 year old vines . Yeah , 2019 , 100% Nerello Mescalese . Great variety , okay .
Speaker 2Again very very heavy , and this is a whopping 139.99 . So , Mel , you're drinking well tonight . Ooh , oh see , I prefer that nose . Maybe it's the difference in the years . It's got more of that violet fresh licorice lift to it .
Speaker 1Maybe the other nose ? Oh wow , yeah , we have clear favourites in both of these and the reverse .
Speaker 2In the reverse .
Speaker 1I liked the more intensive of the whites and well , so far , let me taste the red . But yeah , so far I liked the nose better .
Speaker 2I love that . I love it .
Speaker 1I mean , it's seamless .
Speaker 2Absolutely .
Speaker 1Spotless , it's perfect .
Speaker 2It is perfect .
Speaker 1But man it needs something , and we do not say that about wines very often .
Speaker 2I do , Do you ? No , oh no , that is . Look , it's 140 bucks , so it's not perfect . That is a lot of money to spend , but if you do want a great example of the great variety , the region and just the pure finesse and seamlessness of these wines and why they have a bit of a cult following now this is going with your mates , you know put in 30 bucks each . Yeah , it's worth it .
Speaker 1This is what I noticed . This is my takeaway the best wines of the world and the best ones that we taste . Every wine , we smell and we taste and we go , oh , cherry or lemon or whatever . But when we taste one of those rare , amazing wines , we just taste it and we don't go to flavor distributors .
Speaker 2True , we're kind of speechless .
Speaker 1We go to . Just that's what it is . It's perfect . It's not helpful , people sorry . Yeah right , I mean we can , we can dissect it , but I think it's interesting that the completeness is what's interesting about it , not a specific flavor .
Speaker 2And that's , it plays into that wine commentary . Yeah , Because we do this for a living . We comment on wine , we do describe them , but this is just like just drink it .
Speaker 1Yes , it is so .
Speaker 2It's such a pleasurable experience , and that's what wine should be about . It should not be a carapace of spiky tenons , to quote a recent review .
Speaker 1I was reading over the other day . I was reading like I wanted to know what some of the most amazing wines in the world . So I was looking up like old burgundies and stuff . And I was looking up like very famous wine critics and what they had to say about it and they were like , not as acidic as the 95 and stuff . And I was like helpful , that's not helpful . I don't know what the 95 tastes like , Like what ?
Speaker 2I know , yeah , I know .
Speaker 1I want to know what it tastes like and you're giving me nothing .
Speaker 2Oh , that was one of my fun facts , but I'll do that next week . Save it . Yeah , just with with DRC . Like Janice Robinson's sidekick did the 21 DRC review , well , great , but they're talking to .
Speaker 1Explain DRC .
Speaker 2Domain Romani Conti , the most expensive wine in the world , burgundy . They're talking to what ? The population of the world that would have tasted it or drunk it or could afford to buy it ? You're talking.0005% . Yes , it's nothing . I have had DRC twice in my life . Nice , worth it , it was lovely , but it's £5,000 a bottle . No , yeah . I would rather drink that any day for Sunday , yeah , oh , do we need a cloth ?
Speaker 1Please have fun , tom . Okay , we're back without a vomity baby . Yeah , all good Delicious .
Speaker 2Look in terms of fruit profile . There is that minerality . That's savouriness . Black olive , olive tapenade . I get some of your tomato stem character Sundried tomatoes , cherry , but it's neither cooked nor confected . It's like I don't know . Yeah , this is going to be wanky bruised cherry , but dark cherry . You know , I don't know . When we get cherries and they come in and cherry season , I always pick the really black ones out . I don't like the red ones Really . Yeah , I always go for the dark ones .
Speaker 2Hmm you are weird yeah that's my son , oh my God . But it is almost indescribable .
Speaker 1It is and this is what Dianne Backel says the Chendon wine maker . He said the best wines of the world . Their tasting notes should run , or could run , over multiple pages , Like it's not the kind of thing that you can just describe in the few words . They should be able to take you a place that you can just so indescribable that you're using so many words to try and sum it up , or , the opposite , leave you speechless . Yeah , exactly .
Speaker 2Which in and of itself is fantastic , because we've discussed this . We are translating a sensation , taste and flavour into words , very much like we're describing art , a visual medium , into words . Yeah , and sometimes it's just like this is perfect . Yeah , just drink it . I know it's a lot of money , it's a lot of money , but it's a special treat . Wine . If it's your birthday , coming up , ask for a bottle of this . Yeah , you don't need anything else . Great , that's so true . New TV Get this , ok , love it .
Speaker 1Well , we are done for the week and we'll be back next week . Next week we do have another Wired News episode , so we look forward to seeing you then . And until then , enjoy your next glass of wine , drink well .
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